How We Solve Complex Problems
Each of these is a representative example of work we genuinely do. Names and identifying details are removed; the challenges, approaches and outcomes are typical of the engagements we handle for property developers, landlords, business owners and international clients.
These case studies span property and VAT structuring, portfolio incorporation, group restructuring, UK–UAE relocation, VAT partial exemption and recovery, cross-border supply chains, HMRC refunds, and coordinating with auditors, solicitors and Big 4 advisers — the complex, judgement-led work that sets a specialist firm apart from routine compliance.
Turning unsold new-build apartments into a tax-efficient council letting — saving millions in VAT and SDLT
A residential developer had built an apartment block through the SPV that constructed it, intending to sell the units. Covid and inflation made sales impossible, but the local council offered to take the apartments on a long lease. The client had begun drafting that letting agreement directly from the development SPV — which, because letting residential property is exempt while the construction had been zero-rated, would have triggered a substantial VAT clawback and other costly consequences.
We assessed the VAT and SDLT position before the agreement was signed and advised restructuring: forming a group company, transferring the completed apartments within the group, and letting to the council from the new entity. We structured the transfer so that it fell outside an SDLT charge and avoided the VAT problem entirely.
The letting proceeded with no VAT clawback and no SDLT cost on the transfer — a saving running into millions, and a compliant structure that left the client free to let the units to the council with confidence.
Incorporating a 20-property portfolio — evidencing a genuine business and relieving the tax cost
A landlord held 20 properties in personal names alongside a spouse and a friend. Section 24 was steadily eroding returns by restricting mortgage interest relief. Incorporating could help — but only if the portfolio could be shown to be a genuine property business, which is the critical evidential test for the available reliefs.
We assessed and documented the business case — evidencing the substantial time spent managing the portfolio (by the owners themselves, subcontractors and other professionals) to meet the threshold expected for a genuine business. We then mapped the structure through a partnership/LLP step before incorporating into a company, sequencing it to access the available reliefs.
The portfolio was incorporated with the business position properly evidenced, removing the Section 24 interest restriction going forward and relieving the tax cost of the transfer — a materially better long-term position, built on documentation that stands up to scrutiny.
Bringing separately-owned companies into a group — using losses and cutting ongoing corporation tax
A business owner held several companies individually. Some were profitable and some were loss-making, but because they were owned separately rather than as a group, the losses in one could not relieve the profits in another — leaving the owner paying corporation tax on profits while losses sat stranded elsewhere.
We carried out a group restructuring, placing a parent company over the existing companies to form a proper group — enabling group relief and a more efficient ongoing structure, implemented in the correct sequence to manage the tax consequences of the reorganisation itself.
Losses could be used across the group against profits, producing a substantial ongoing corporation tax saving year on year — and a cleaner structure better suited to how the businesses actually operate.
Replacing Big 4 compliance fees with senior, hands-on service — for a fraction of the cost
A client was spending very large sums each year on routine compliance with a Big 4 firm — and not always getting hands-on service in return. As examples: around £5,000 for a VAT registration, around £2,000 for an iXBRL tagging exercise, and £8,000–£10,000 for a tax provision and disclosure calculation where the firm would not even liaise directly with the auditors.
We met the client and took on their ongoing advisory and compliance. We delivered the same work at a fraction of the cost — a fraction of the VAT registration fee, around a third of the iXBRL cost, and a markedly lower fee for the tax provision and disclosure work — and, crucially, we coordinated directly with the auditors as part of the service.
The client retained Big 4-calibre technical quality — the principal trained in that environment — while saving many thousands of pounds in fees each year and gaining a more responsive, hands-on relationship that included direct auditor coordination.
Selling a business and relocating to Dubai — managing UK residence to protect the gain
A client was selling their business and moving to Dubai. The timing and sequencing of the sale relative to their UK tax residence would determine whether a significant capital gains tax charge arose — and getting the residence position and its evidencing wrong could be very costly.
We walked the client through the whole process — establishing non-UK-resident status correctly, sequencing the disposal appropriately, and helping them track the residence conditions (including day-counting and ties) so the position held up. We kept the evidence trail in order throughout the relevant period.
The business was sold with the residence position properly managed and evidenced, achieving a very substantial tax saving on the gain — with the client confident the position was robust rather than hoping it would hold.
Unlocking VAT recovery for a financial services business that assumed it could recover nothing
A financial services company was recovering no input VAT, on the assumption that all its activities were exempt. In fact it had a mix — exempt activities, but taxable ones too — and it was both losing recoverable VAT and at risk of getting its treatment wrong.
We assessed the activities and identified the taxable, exempt and residual elements. We structured the position so the categories were clear, and built a partial exemption workbook to model the recovery — giving the business a defensible, repeatable method.
The business now recovers the VAT it is properly entitled to — and, just as importantly, is compliant on the taxable side, with a clear method behind every figure rather than an incorrect blanket assumption.
From a small request to a full outsourced finance function — for an overseas investor
A foreign investor came to us for a small piece of help they had not been able to get from a large accountancy firm. Based overseas (in Singapore), they needed UK compliance handled but found their existing provider neither hands-on nor responsive.
We took on the initial task and delivered it the way we work — straightforward, hands-on and responsive. As trust built, the client moved their full range of UK services to us, and we effectively became their outsourced in-house accountant and tax adviser.
The client no longer worries about UK compliance from overseas — we handle everything on their behalf, giving them a single, reliable point of contact and complete peace of mind across thousands of miles.
Releasing a long-stuck commercial property VAT refund by engaging directly with HMRC
A commercial property developer had been unable to recover a large VAT refund for a long time. The hold-up was evidential — there was no clear way to track and justify the VATable supply position to the HMRC inspector reviewing the claim.
We engaged directly with the inspector, set out and justified the point at which the supply became taxable, and provided the supporting documentation needed to satisfy the review — doing the coordination and evidencing the client's previous adviser had not.
HMRC was satisfied and released the refund within a month — unlocking a large sum that had been stuck for a long time, simply because the position was finally evidenced and explained properly.
The in-house tax brain a fast-growing multinational didn't have — translating Big 4 advice into decisions
A rapidly-growing company became a multinational group working with Big 4 networks across several countries. The problem was internal capacity: nobody in-house could read, understand and explain the heavyweight documents arriving — tax strategy memoranda, tax and finance due diligence, sale and purchase agreements, anti-hybrid analysis and transfer pricing — in plain terms the board could act on.
Working on an hourly basis, we acted as the in-house tax brain the group lacked — coordinating with the Big 4 advisers, translating their technical output into plain language for management, and helping the board both make the right decisions and implement them correctly.
Management could finally understand and act on the advice they were paying for — making informed decisions and implementing them properly, with a trusted bridge between their external advisers and the boardroom. This is the essence of our Outsourced Head of Tax service.
Untangling a cross-border supply chain — and getting the other side's advisers to agree the VAT position
A German-based client bought equipment from a Swiss vendor, with the goods supplied into Ireland. Ownership transferred in Ireland — which triggered an Irish VAT registration requirement — and the client then modified the equipment in Ireland before sending it on to the destination country. When the invoice arrived, it carried the wrong VAT treatment, and the cross-border chain (a buyer, a vendor and the place of supply all in different countries) made the correct position far from obvious.
We analysed the supply chain and advised on the correct VAT treatment — explaining why Irish VAT had to be considered even though the client was incorporated elsewhere and the vendor was based in a third country. The vendor was initially unconvinced and brought in their own advisers; we set out our reasoning to them directly, and their advisers understood, agreed, and helped the vendor make the necessary arrangements.
The supply chain was treated correctly for VAT, the invoicing was corrected, and both sides moved forward compliantly — with the other party's own advisers ultimately endorsing the analysis we had set out.
Getting the tax wording right in a commercial contract — coordinating with the client's solicitor
A client was finalising a contract with their customer, and the tax wording was critical — it set the boundaries, rights and responsibilities between the parties. The customer was pushing hard to be covered for all potential tax liabilities, and the client needed to understand what they were being asked to accept before signing.
We worked alongside the client's solicitor to finalise the tax wording, explaining to the client in plain terms what each clause meant for them and where the customer's demands shifted risk onto them. We coordinated with the solicitor on the drafting so the legal and tax positions lined up.
With a clear understanding of the tax implications, the client was able to negotiate commercially and strike a balanced position rather than accepting open-ended liability — then move forward with the deal on terms they understood and were comfortable with.
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Book a Discovery CallThese case studies are representative of work we undertake. Details have been anonymised and simplified to protect client confidentiality, and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. They are illustrative of our approach and do not constitute advice or a guarantee of any particular result.